Compton police pursuit ends with 4 killed in crash

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

KTLA 5

COMPTON, Calif (KTLA) – A high speed pursuit Saturday morning in Compton ended with four people killed, including three men in the vehicle deputies had been pursuing and an innocent victim, authorities said.

The pursuit ended in a fiery crash in the intersection at West Greenleaf Boulevard and South Wilmington Avenue, in Compton.

The pursuit began around 12:15 am. after witnesses dialed 911 to report someone had been firing gunshots out of a moving car, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies located a car matching the description of the vehicle and attempted to pull it over. But the driver refused to stop, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and struck another car in the intersection at West Greenleaf Boulevard and South Wilmington Avenue, according to witnesses.

The suspect’s vehicle then flipped over, crashed into a house and burst into flames. The driver and two passengers were trapped inside as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames, witnesses said.

Firefighters were unable to save the four people who died.

All three were people in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

The other car hit a power pole, trapping the female driver inside.

First responders from the Compton Fire cut the roof off the car, but were unable to save the woman.